Politics, Metal and MetalSucks

Politics, Metal and MetalSucks

In a recent editorial on Metalsucks, Buzzfeed’s retarded brother during his rebellious phase, editor Matt Goldberg (a.k.a. Axl Rosenberg) decided to give his two uninformed cents on the issue of whether politics have any place in heavy metal. Although he claims that this genre of music has always been political (a claim with which I agree), he quickly goes off the deep end.

It is not that I have a problem with Goldberg’s point; on the contrary. A simple analysis of the roots of heavy metal shows that it had very political origins, and that politics have played an important role in shaping it. The problem is that, after guesstimating a list of political songs and bands, he presents this uninformed nugget of wisdom:

“Do most of the songs mentioned above lean left? Well… yeah, of course. I never understand why anyone is surprised that creative people are predominantly liberal; thinking outside the box is what they do, so naturally they’re not gonna jibe with any traditionalist worldview. So while there are definitely exceptions (the aforementioned “Critical Acclaim” by A7X, for example), no duh these songs tend to be anti-conservative.”

First of all, let’s give credit where credit is due. It cannot be easy to suck your own dick like this. Clearly Goldberg’s ability is the result of a lot of practice and, of course, commitment to his craft. Few people are able to say “all thecool people predominantly agree with me” so effortlessly, and he deserves all the credit he can get for that massive blowjob he just gave himself.

Since what Goldberg did was to simply come up with a conclusion (“cool people are liberals, just like me”), he basically started to look for whatever evidence he could find in order to confirm it. Not only that, he also went ahead and just deliberately redefined concepts like “left” and “right” wing, so as to make sure that the results were something along the lines of “left wing good, right wing bad.” If you are against the abuses of the state, against war, against religion, you are from the left; if you are in favor of the state stomping down on everyone, you love war, and you are obsessed with religion, you are from the right. Really, it’s the kind of deep and nuanced political thought that you usually encounter in a stoner who just got back home after his first semester in college (Che Guevara and CCCP t-shirts included).

I got tired of looking for a suitable image of a dirty drum circle, so here’s a segment from that South Park episode about hippies.

It’s also ridiculous to note that in his urge to align himself with every popular musician he could think of, “Axl” included some pretty well-known right wingers. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, for example, became a nutty Republican supporter and was “born again” into whatever Christian sect decided to admit him; Pantera’s Phil Anselmo is regularly called a Nazi by “Axl’s” own Metal Sucks (including the Woodward & Bernstein-level reporting of realizing his record label might follow a right wing channel on Youtube), but his band is included among the left-wing luminaries all the same. Hell, In Rosenberg’s mind, Marilyn Manson, who favored George W. Bush over Al Gore in the 2000 US presidential elections (although he later said he was totes being ironic you guys!), is even part of this lefty club of “creatives.”

What is more, with his sucking up to the political left, in one simple stroke, Goldberg has basically dismissed a big part of black metal; you know, that genre that Metalsucks is happy to exploit for cheap clicks whenever a local idiot on Youtube gets some corpsepaint and a cross. It is undeniable (and Moynihan & Soderlind’s authoritative research on the topic confirms it) that black metal was, at least in its origins, inherently associated with some of what “Axl” would call “right wing” sentiments. And yet, because this is contrary to his barely thought-out point, he conveniently forgets that whole genre. Hell, he even references Wikipedia’s section on hardcore music and politics, ignoring the fact that it even mentions the existence of “right wing” hardcore. It’s bad enough to use Wikipedia as a source, but to be unable to fucking read it is just amazing.

The problem here is fairly easy to see. Goldberg wanted to place himself next to those he considers “creative,” and the only way he could achieve that was merely by association. Since he does not create anything, he does not have any personal claim to fame as a “creator,” the next-best-thing is to simply pretend that liking the same stuff as those he admires somehow puts him in the same level.

Bruce Dickinson likes planes; I like planes… we’re pretty much two peas from the same pod (Photo by the very talented John McMurtrie… who, like me, likes photography)

What I find particularly repellent about Goldberg’s comments is his idiotic, freshman-level idea that the left is always about “thinking outside the box,” about telling truth to power, while right wingers are all about getting systematically fucked by state and church. This is a downright dangerous idea, and which actually goes against what Goldberg seems to believe he is all about: fighting the status quo.

By apparently assuming that liberals are inherently more moral that conservatives, always thinking “outside the box,” Goldberg places himself in that proud leftist tradition of overlooking abuses as long as their guy is the one committing them. If George W. Bush bombs a defenseless country on trumped-up charges, he is a war criminal; if Obama engages in a policy of collective punishment via the use of drone warfare, he is just a visionary. If Dave Mustaine likes George W. Bush, he is an idiot; if Rage Against the Machine continue to voice their support for the tyrannical Castro regime, as well as admiring a murderer like Che Guevara, they are just “thinking outside the box, man”. When they do something, it is criminal; when we do it, we are morally justified. Of course, this kind of hypocritical behavior is not exclusive to the left; on the contrary, left and right wingers are in a constant race to the bottom on this issue. The problem is that Goldberg decided to place himself and his coreligionists as moral authorities.

Perhaps the funniest thing about this article is not Axl’s desperate and pathetic attempt at trying to place himself among artists; it’s not even that the editor of a site that systematically pushes dumbed-down, lowest-common-denominator content, pretends to have a claim on creativity and “thinking outside the box. Instead, it’s the fact that his whole point was to combat what, in his mind, are people who argue that metal should not be mixed with politics.

Considered by his mother as the brightest and prettiest boy, J’s interest in metal started in his early teens, listening to bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica (coupled with an embarrassing period in which Marilyn Manson “totally represents me, man”) eventually moving into the realm of power, black, and death metal.
He holds a PhD in law, trains martial arts, practices law, and enjoys coming up with excuses as to why he has to miss work after going to a concert. He also dabbles as a concert photographer, you can see his sub-par work on his instagram.

Blabbermouth is owned and run by joo organization Warner Brothers, Vice is partly owned by zionist Fox, metalinjection and metalsucks are all run by zionist joos from Brooklyn.. the list goes on and on… the joos are desperate to take over the last bastion of goyim music they have not infected already: Metal

J_MetalBlast

Hi GDD, thank you for your message and apologies for the delay.

Since you say “joos” to refer to Jewish people, I have to assume you’re doing what in your mind is a funny joke. Maybe we’re not the right audience for it, because it did not make anybody laugh over here. Now, don’t get me wrong, we’re not scandalized or offended by it, it’s just boring.
Alternatively, you might actually believe that what you said is important and true, in which case I urge you to get back on your meds. Your whole thesis is stupid, considering that there’s plenty of “goyim” music that is not dominated by your cartoonish imaginary Jews (unless, of course, you feel Celtic music is just part of the arsenal of the hidden Jewish cabal).
Good luck on your recovery.

SuzyC

I stopped visiting MetalSucks several years ago. As an anti-state, anarcho-classical liberal I found reading MS to be like reading MSNBC. The modern left-liberal mind is so much “inside the box” collectivism without any respect for individuals. Metal, on the other hand, doesn’t give damn about left-statist sacred cows like quotas, egalitarianism, or hurting anyone’s feelings. Metal, like individuals should, succeeds or fails on its own merits: competence, integrity, and head-banging power.

J_MetalBlast

Honestly, I don’t mind if people are left wing. It’s the totalitarianism with which they do so. They really do believe in punishing people for “wrongthink” and immerse themselves in echo chambers. Now, of course, the right does the same, but it’s undeniable that the “regressive left” is currently dominant in the media.
As for MSNBC, at least they have journalists, together with their opinion pieces. MetalSucks is just a bunch of pretentious liberals who are here to tell you why they’re virtuous.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! 🙂

Dead1

Great article.

I only go to Metalsucks to troll. There’s no intelligent discussion there nor much in the way of relevant music news. It’s just clickbait garbage.

J_MetalBlast

One of the things that attracted me to heavy metal was the rejection of the status quo, of the vapidity of popular culture. When you see that the way in which they have become popular is by doing clickbait, reaction videos, or by having some random bimbo talk about the most metal pokemon/comics… well, what’s the different with any other bottom of the barrel outlet then?

nn

It looks to me Axl would give his “liberal” left arm for the ability to write an article only half as witty as this one…

J_MetalBlast

You’re very kind, thank you so much for the support.
Keep in mind that MetalSucks are “liberals” in name only. They have no problem in defending suppression of speech, like when they celebrated the illegal and legitimate arrest of Vikernes for his blog spots, or the way in which he was convicted for “hate speech”

PS: have Matt at least pidgeon-sized balls to react to your opinions or he just stick his face to the sand and pretend metalblast don´t exit?

asdfghjkl

* – … Can you ´review´ …

TheGranulatingDarkSatanicMilfs

I’m not J but to be honest I see no reason for him to address those articles. I’d rather keep seeing the interesting and insightful articles and interviews I usually see on this site than to see J and co. engage in open warfare with MetalSucks. Yes, those articles (especially the latter) were quite hypocritical, grossly misinformed and blatantly stupid, but we all had our fun mocking them when they were posted. Now it is time to let sweet oblivion claim them

J_MetalBlast

I agree, sadly. I don’t see the point in making those idiotic articles any more noticeable, not to mention that writing a “manifesto” is something just downright insane. You’re a fucking music website that posts videos about Pokemon, not a political thinker.

J_MetalBlast

I tweeted them this article when I wrote it, but they didn’t react to it. It’s not unusual; the articles that I’ve written in regards to some of Kim Kelly’s most ridiculous claims (like “whiteness in metal” and others) have also gone unanswered.
Now, I’d understand if my articles more in the style of “FUCK YOU YOU SJW PIECE OF SHIT!!!!111” that they wouldn’t reply, but they’re not. People enjoy their echo chambers, and don’t engage their readers or critics. I mean, check MetalSucks itself; they speak from a pedestal, and don’t bother trying to answer the claims people raise. They do a lot of virtue signaling (“look how amazing and nice we are”) and then ignore any comments.
As for those article you linked… I don’t know dude, I sincerely don’t think there’s anything I could say that would make them look any worse. They just come off as people who enjoy the smell of their own farts. I might give it a shot later, but right now I’m writing a fairly long piece about Blastfest, so that has occupied my time. Hopefully, it’ll be out by Sunday!

Metalsucks Sucks

I got why you don´t wanna react more to Metalsucks, but… Try read this. Especially ´update for slower readers´ is the new bottom. And a hell of funny.

Excellent article! How did I not know of your blog before this? Ragging on the idiots at Metalsucks is a hobby of mine. There are some great trolls shit posting there. You did a good job dissecting the fat mans stupidity. I remember reading the initial article with Axl Rosenberg embarrassing himself with his ignorance. As I went through his list of examples it was incredible how little he understood the songs or their meaning or their context. Not to mention not understanding the modern western political spectrum.
Keep up the good work! I’m seeing a podcast with Tobi Sammet, ill be checking that one out for sure.

Great article! I know I’m a little late but I found the link when I stumbled upon MetalSucks’ latest SJW patrol and I love when people call out MetalSucks for their leftist bullshit. The left like to tout that they are so progressive and righteous but then you disagree with them and they prove they are no better than the right. They talk so much shit it’s ridiculous. I’m not here defending the right because they have their own shitty views. I think both sides have their positives and negatives. I think a huge problem of today’s political climate is this left/right nonsense. It’s not a spectrum of ideas, it seems that you’re either left or you’re right, there is no in-between. You know how doctors recommend shit in moderation? I think the same applies to politics; there is a middle ground for ideas. Society could use a little moderation.

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